1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention is related to hose clamps and more particularly, to devices for connecting and repairing soft-walled hose such as lawn and garden hose.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art includes a variety of devices for connecting and coupling hoses. A persistent problem with such hose coupling devices has been that it has been difficult to connect the coupling to soft-walled hoses such that a tight seal is formed.
One type of clamp known in the prior art was designed to provide leak-proof connections by providing pressure completely around the outer circumference of the hose. An example of this type of clamp is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,992,580 wherein a two-piece clamp is provided with lugs and complementary cut-out portions in respective pieces of the clamp. The clamp is applied directly to the outer circumference of the hose through a transverse opening in the ferrule coupling member. The clamp of U.S. Pat. No. 1,992,580 does not cooperate with an interior sleeve to compress the hose therebetween and is suitable for use only on self-supporting hoses. Accordingly, couplings of this type are unsuitable for soft-walled hoses such as garden hoses that are not self-supporting.
Many prior art devices used a two-piece clamp that was placed around the outer circumference of the hose and drawn together so as to compress the hose against an inner sleeve. Examples of this mechanism are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 817,060; 835,300; 867,059; 1,283,554; 1,649,594; 1,777,120; and 4,139,224. The problem with these devices is that the clamps did not provide uniform pressure around the hose circumference. The hose was pinched and distorted between the opposed pieces of the clamp creating a channel between the inner surface of the hose and inner sleeve such that water would leak through this channel.
Accordingly, in the prior art, there was a need for a hose coupling that could be conveniently clamped to a soft walled hose such that it would securely grip the hose forming a water-tight seal.